Early in the week we met a guy tracting named Kenneth. We talked to him for a while and started to teach him about the Restoration and we gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon. He told us that he hadn't been to any church for a long time, but said that he would come with us when we invited him. We went back to see Kenneth with a member on Thursday. We met Kenneth's significant other, Felisha, and we talked to both of them about the Book of Mormon and about coming to church. Felisha seemed even more interested than Kenneth, honestly, but they both are looking forward to coming to church. One little unfortunate detail: they don't have a car. Theirs was totaled a couple of weeks ago. And they have 5 kids. Even if we do have a member willing to drive someone, it's kind of difficult to find a ride for 7 people. I only know of two members that have a van, and their vans are full. We're going to see what we can do, but hopefully they can find a car. I know they are looking.
We were also able to continue to meet with Damion this week. We have been talking a lot about just the basics - prayer, church attendance, faith, scripture reading, repentance. He seems to finally be getting a grasp on things, and it's going pretty well with him. He also came to church again this week! For whatever reason he left after Sunday School, but he was there for Sacrament Meeting and for gospel principles, which is more than we can say for most people! Things are going slow, but they're going. Damion's come a long way since I first met him way back when.
Katelyn, who was a referral from Savannah last week, didn't make it to church unfortunately. We talked to her on Saturday night and she told us she would be there, but she woke up sick and decided not to come. However, we have talked to her since then and we are going to visit her and teach her again on Saturday and she told us she was excited to come back to church. I've only met Katelyn once at this point, but she seems really prepared and ready to receive the gospel. And we probably never would have met her had not Savannah invited her to church. That's the power of member missionary work.
The Baxleys have pretty much been impaired all week. We called them a couple of times to see if we could stop by or to invite them to church again, and they always just told us of some ailment they were dealing with and asked us not to come over. That was rather unfortunate. It's kind of hard to get back into church (which she has repeatedly expressed her desire to do) without being able to actually get back into church. Please pray for their health and strength so that we can continue to visit and teach them, and so that they can make it to church each week.
This week is Thanksgiving, and we are looking forward to it. We have been invited to have dinner with the Compton Clan (the Compton's make up like 40+% of the branch). They are quite the large and awesome family. I'm glad we have such great members here.
Also with this week being Thanksgiving, I thought I'd tell y'all something that I am thankful for. I'm thankful for all of the friendships and relationships that I have made as a result of serving a mission. I'm so glad that I have been able to come to know and love so many different people on my mission. There are many that I look forward to coming back and visiting again, and I'm excited for the day when I can do that. I'm thankful for those I have taught that I have seen draw closer to our Savior as I have helped them apply His teachings. I'm thankful for the wonderful members that have helped us, fed us, and took us in as part of their families. I'm thankful for the great missionaries that I have had the privilege of serving with, learning from, and creating memories with. There are so many things I would have missed out on had I not served a mission, and I'm thankful for them all.
Scripture for the week: "Worship God in whatsoever place ye may be in, in Spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you." - Alma 34:38
Well, I hope y'all have a great week. Love y'all!
Elder Beach
#RollTide
We finally got our stove/oven installed! #stoveselfie
After 18.5 days of not having something to cook on, this is our inaugural meal. You can't go wrong with biscuits and gravy!
The Aggies are ranked #1 in the nation in scoring!
We love this family! (Mom's note: We received an email from this family this week that said, "Elder Beach is the best missionary Attalla has ever had." Parental pay day for sure!)
Elder Vanderhoff, Daniel and me!
Can't ever resist a playground...especially one with a springy purple dinosaur! :)
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